Not much has gone right for the Phillies in the early going. They are 1-3 in the Grapefruit League thus far, having been disappointed several times already by Cuban pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez. Roberto Hernandez wasn’t sharp in his first outing. Jonathan Pettibone has had shoulder problems again. The cherry on top of the sundae, though, was when they learned that Cole Hamels would not be ready for Opening Day due to tendinitis in his right shoulder.

Thankfully, the Phillies have received a dose of good news about Hamels. He is progressing well and may only miss one or two starts at the beginning of the regular season. He is on track to throw live batting practice next week. Via MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki:

“Everything felt really good,” he said at Bright House Field. “My pitches are really coming along. I’m really able to execute down in the zone. I know that’s something Bob [McClure, pitching coach] preaches to everybody. I know I’m pretty good at doing that, so to get into my second bullpen and execute down in the zone, correct pitches within a pitch, having the control, it feels great.”

The Phillies are thin on pitching depth as is, so a healthy and productive Hamels is tantamount to the Phillies remaining at least somewhat competitive throughout the 2014 season. The left-hander finished the past season with a 3.60 ERA in 220 innings, ending a stretch of three consecutive seasons between 2010-12 where he finished with an ERA of 3.06 or lower.

There is literally nothing you could tell me that the incoming administration is considering which would shock me anymore. As such, I saw this story when I woke up this morning, blinked once, took a sip of coffee, closed the browser window and just went on with my morning, as desensitized as a wisdom tooth about to be yanked.

Rob Bradford of WEEI reports that Former Red Sox, Mets and Rangers manager Bobby Valentine is on a short-list of candidates for the job of United States Ambassador to Japan:

The 66-year-old, who currently serves as Sacred Heart University’s athletics director, has engaged in preliminary discussions with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team regarding the position.

Valentine managed the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Pacific League for six seasons, leading the team to a championship in 2005. He also knows the current prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, as both went to USC. Assuming championship teams meet the country’s leader in Japan like they do in the United States, Valentine has at least twice the amount of experience with top political leaders than does, say, Ned Yost, so that’s something.

The former manager, more importantly, is friends with Donald Trump’s brother, with the two of them going way back. Which, given how this transition is going, seems like a far more important set of qualifications than anything else on this list.

Frank Cusumano of KSDK Sports reports that free agent outfielder will take a physical in St. Louis on Friday. Presumably, that means that Fowler and the Cardinals have gotten pretty far along in negotiations.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports recently reported that Fowler was looking for $18 million per year. The Blue Jays reportedly made an offer to Fowler in the four-year, $16 million range several days ago. The Cardinals’ offer to Fowler, if there is indeed one, is likely somewhere between the two figures.

Fowler, 30, is coming off of a fantastic year in which he helped the Cubs win their first World Series since 1908. During the regular season, he hit .276/.393/.447 with 13 home runs, 48 RBI, 84 runs scored, and 13 stolen bases in 551 plate appearances.

Fowler rejected the Cubs’ $17.2 million qualifying offer last month. While the QO compensation negatively affected Fowler’s experience in free agency last offseason — he didn’t sign until late February with the Cubs — his strong season is expected to make QO compensation much less of an issue.